Soon after the release of The Family Man 2‘s trailer a few days back, the web series landed in trouble after it ended up upsetting a certain section of society. The show, starring Manoj Bajpyaee and Samantha Akkineni in important roles, saw social media users alleging that the web series shows “Tamil people in the bad light”. Soon after, the hashtag “#FamilyMan2_against_Tamils” started trending online.
As per some tweets, netizens also accused makers Raj and DK of allegedly portraying a particular segment of the Tamil community as terrorists and LTTE fighters. Trouble intensified for the much-awaited web series, when Rajya Sabha MP Vaiyapuri Gopalsamy, better known as Vaiko, sent a written complaint to Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar and sought a ban on it. Vaiko urged the I&B Minister to take strict actions and stop the release of the web show. According to him, if no action is taken, the government will have to face serious “consequences”.
Now, Manoj Bajpayee, who essays the lead in the show has shared a statement by makers Raj and DK on the show, where they have stated that while assumptions and impressions have been made about the show based on just a couple of shots in the trailer, many of the lead cast members and jet members of both create and writing teams are Tamilians and as such, the makers, “are very cognizant of the sentiments of the Tamil people and Tamil culture,” adding, that they have nothing but “utmost love and respect towards our Tamil people.”
“We have put in years of hard work into this show, and we have taken great pains to bring out audiences a sensitive, balanced, and riveting story — much like we did in Season 1 of the show. We request everyone to wait and watch the show when it releases. We know you’ll appreciate it once you watch it,” the statement by the makers further read.
For the unversed, The Family Man 2 features Samantha in the role of the antagonist, Raaji. The show also stars Srikant Tiwari along with actors Sharib Hashmi and Priyamani in pivotal roles. The new season is set in Chennai and has undercover spy agent Srikant Tiwari out to stop Raji from leading the anti-establishment force.